New Blogger Friend

Today I spent the morning with my friend, Karen Angel, setting up a blog for her. I have always said that Karen is the "Michelangelo" of rubber stamping....she does absolutely beautiful work!! Her blog is aptly named "Karen's Angelic Impressions"...you will want to visit her site often for some "heavenly" inspiration.

Still haven't tried to figure out the picture downloading yet....but will work on that during the Christmas break!

Until then....Merry Christmas!!

New Computer.....Old Dork at the Keyboard

Just last week we installed a new computer....it works GREAT!!! Much better than our old laptop that seemed to do little else than make the user impatient and stir up anger.

Anyway.... This "Old Dork" has been intending to publish some posts, but has been unable to figure out how to get my pictures from my camera into the computer. At least with the laptop I knew how to download my pictures.....that part was a snap. I know it is probably something VERY easy, but I haven't figured it out and haven't had the time to play with it to figure it out....so SORRY!

I had made some cute gift tags and gift card holders.....if I can figure the picture downloading thing out, I will post them ASAP.

If I don't get to posting anything before Christmas....Have a BLESSED Christmas!!!

PS: My New Year's resolution will be to become a better blogger :-)

FREE SHIPPING and a SALE!!!

From December 9 through December 23, all Stampin' Up! orders of $70 or more will receive FREE SHIPPING. No need to do anything special. Simply place your order on-line here and you will automatically receive free shipping for a qualifying order.

Stampin' Up!'s Retiring Stamp List (see below) was released today and you'll receive 10 percent off all retired stamp sets if you order on-line now through Dec. 23.
Be aware: Retiring stamps will continue to be available after the sale through Jan. 18 (but at the retail prices). You can combine the retired stamp sale with free shipping (minimum product order $70) and save bunches!!

What a Blessing!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON!!!

Yesterday was my daughter's 11th birthday!! She's the BEST!!

This picture was taken Thanksgiving week up at Bass Lake on a day trip.

More Examples from Country Living Kit

Here are some more pictures from my Thanksgiving stamping time with my sister. Like the cards my sister made.....these used mostly the supplies from the Country Living Holiday Collection Kit. I did use snowflakes and greetings from"Winter Post", "Snow Swirled", and "Best Yet Level 1 Hostess Set". Again, it's not too late to order your Holiday Collection Kit!!

GREAT TIME WITH FAMILY!!

I had a great Thanksgiving weekend with my family! I pray that your Thanksgiving was equally grand.

We stayed the Thanksgiving weekend at my mother's and relaxed, ate, and STAMPED!!!! My sister from San Diego, Gwen, had NEVER stamped before and she made some FANTASTIC creations! The creative juices were really flowing...I'm still working at making her an addict!! Here is a picture of her and her creations.

You're beautiful Gwen!!!

By the way......we used the Country Living Holiday Collection Kit. The more you use of the kit the more the contents seem to multiply!!! If you haven't yet purchased your Kit, you have only until the end of December.....so go to my website and order your Kit TODAY!!!

20% - 50% OFF CHRISTMAS PRODUCT BUNDLES

HOLD ON TO YOUR HATS!!! Stampin' Up! is going to be offering select Christmas products in bundles that they are going to selling for 20% to 50% OFF!!

Stampin' Up is going to be unveiling these product bundles on November 26th....so be sure to check my SU website for complete details and to place your order. These bundles are going to be on sale ONLY through DECEMBER 1st and while supplies last....so you will want to be sure to take a look and place your order promptly!!

Yipppeee!!! Everybody LOVES a sale!!!

No, I Haven't Forgot I Have A Blog!

Ok, I think I am about the worst blogger on the block!! It's not that I forget I have a blog, but I just forget to post things ON my blog! Sorry! I will try to be a better blogger.....but it's hard when you have the mind of a Wilma Flintstone!!

I've actually been trying to do more stamping recently.....so here is a sampling....I'll not post them all so that tomorrow I will have something to post.












Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Ink: VersaMark, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Lovely Lilac, Old Olive (all but VersaMark are Stampin' Write Markers)
Paper: Lovely Lilac, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Confetti White
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Snail

Last Monday's Stamp Club

Last Monday we had our Stamp Club.....these gals for GREAT!!!

The first card we made was adapted from a Christmas card my friend Karen Angel had sent out one year. The second card was copied from Jan Tink, an incredibly talented stamper.....you can view her blog (click here) and see her fabulous creations.

Stamps: Winter Post, Snow Swirled
Ink: Versamark, Pacific Point, Riding Hood Red
Paper: Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla
Accessories: 1/4 in. grosgrainBashful Blue ribbon, tag corner punch, horizontal slot punch, scallop circle punch, 1-3/8 circle punch, scallop edge punch, heat & stick powder, Dazzling Diamond glitter, Crop-a-Dile, silver eyelets

The "Mr. Twigster" card that Jan created was so fun....the ladies in my club added glitter to the snow and really jazzed up their cards, which made them look fantastic!!












Stamps: Mr. Twigster, Snow Swirled
Ink: Black StazOn, Pacific Point
Paper: Whisper White, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Black gingham ribbon, slit punch, Crop-A-Dile, silver eyelet, aqua painter

YARD SALE!

Last Saturday (11/8) we had a yard sale.....where do we get all this JUNK??!! Anyway, we laid all our stuff out for folks to buy...we did pretty well considering most, if not all, of our "merchandise" was pitiful. The kids set up a coffee stand and were selling cups of coffee for .25....they had a good time (at first anyway).

We have a rule in our home....anything that goes out for a yard sale doesn't get put back. So, around noon we loaded up any unsold items into the truck and took them down to the Good Will. Viola! Instant clean up!

NEW Stampin' Up! Country Living Kit

Today, the NEW Stampin' Up! Country Living Kit goes on sale. Create beautiful handcrafted ornaments and decorations with, and for, your family and friends this holiday season with the Country Living Holiday Stamp Kit (Item #114447, $49.95)--available only while supplies last. The kit offers a convenient way at this busy time of the year to create simple and elegant ornaments to brighten your home or share as hand-crafted gifts.

The Holiday Collection Stampin' Kit (Item #114447, $49.95) includes the following products:

• Holiday Collection stamp set (six stamps-)
• Four 12" x 12" sheets of die-cut chipboard
• Eight 12" x 12" sheets of die-cut Designer Series paper (2 ea. of 4 double-sided designs)
• Four 12" x 12" sheets of Designer Series paper (2 ea. of 2 double-sided designs)
• Two 12" x 12" sheets of Whisper White card stock
• 25 yds. Silver Metallic cord
• 10 yds. 3/8" Whisper White taffeta ribbon
• Pretties Kit brads (20)
• Stampin' Dimensionals
• Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (1/2 oz.)
• Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive
• Riding Hood Red Classic Stampin' Spot
• Old Olive Craft Stampin' Spot
• Uninked Stampin' Spot
• Whisper White Craft Ink refill

This kit includes EVERYTHING you'll need to make TONS of beautiful projects this holiday season!

Breast Cancer Awareness Vendor Booth

Today I, along with the help of my daughter, Madison, sat up a Stampin' Up! vendor booth at the local Curves which was hosting a Breast Cancer Awareness Event. I had never sat up anything like a booth before so it was fun getting all the stuff ready. I didn't come away with tons of sales or bookings, but I did make a few contacts for future stamping events and talked with quite a few ladies about stamping and Stampin' Up!.

The Event raised approximately $500.00 in a silent auction, all of which will go to the fight against breast cancer.

Overall, I had a fantastic time talking with folks about SU, browsing the other vendor booths, and being part of such a worthwhile endeavor.

Simple Halloween Treats

Last night I put together almost 40 simple Halloween goodie bags for my son's class party on Friday. Earlier in the week, I had visions of something more "spook-tackular", but then reality set in.....so I scaled WAY back. I settled on something VERY easy and yet cute.

Stamps: Autumn Harvest, All Holidays
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Cheap black cording that my daughter had in her beading stuff.

Getting Ready for the Ranchos Breast Cancer Awareness Event on November 1

Today I spent the better part of the morning getting some things together for a booth that I was offered at the Madera Ranchos Breast Cancer Awareness Event sponsored by the local Curves that is going to be held on Saturday, Nov. 1.

Earlier in the week, I had visited my friend, Karen Angel, and she let me play with her Big Shot die cutter.....Oh my, did I have FUN!!! I went nuts cutting the small scallop envelopes for my "Book 2 Look" basket, I also cut out a bunch of fall leaves and some top notes. (I've been dropping hints that I would really like one and that Christmas is just around the corner...but I think I'm being ignored.)

I've also been putting together a display of stamped cards, catalog samplers, and other goodies for the event. I feel a bit overwhelmed, but I need to keep telling myself that I have next week as well to prepare....anyway, I'm havin' fun!

I'll take a picture on Nov. 1 when my booth is all set up, since chances are I'll change half the things I'm doing now. I'm such a nerd!!

I'm really looking forward to the day and the experience of having a booth.

Club on Monday and A Long Week

I can't believe how quickly the week can race by!! On Monday evening, I had my stamp club and now it is Saturday late afternoon.....whew!!! The days just fly by.

Below is a picture of my stampin' buddies at club....all but Liz and Paula were present. This is a great group.....they are so fun and are becoming better stampers QUICK!! It is a challenge to keep them begging for more....they keep me on my creative toes! I appreciate each one of them and look forward to many years of stampin' fun! Thanks ladies!!!

Tonight's Club

Tonight my Stamp Club meets and we will be making a couple of cards.....one of which is posted below. We have a great group.....they are becoming better stampers as time goes on. GO GIRLS!!!












Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Ink: Old Olive, Rose Red
Paper: Bashful Blue, Olive Olive, Rose Red, Naturals White, Designer Series Paper Junior Varsity, Patterns DSP Bashful Blue
Accessories: 1/4" grosgrain Bashful Blue ribbon, 1-3/8" circle punch, scallop circle punch, dimensionals, SNAIL

The following card is a Make-n-Take that I did at the meeting....Karen Angel, my upline, designed the card. She is such a wonderful stamper!!! I LOVE all her work! I love how she used the slot punch to turn the grass into cattails.



The next groups of cards are swap cards......They were designed by Karen Angel, Lori Fleenor, and Lori Walker. THANKS ladies!!!

Glitter EVERYWHERE!!

I now truly believe that I am TOTALLY glitter challenged!!!

Tomorrow (Sat, 10/11) I have a meeting with my fellow demonstrators and the swap for tomorrow is "Bling".....now I am NOT very "Blingy". Well, I talked with my upline and friend, Karen, and she told me that anything with Dazzling Diamonds glitter would qualify as "Bling". So, I took the reindeer card that I posted a couple of days ago and decided to just use that and put Dazzling Diamonds on the snowflakes that I stamped on the white liner. Now for the swap I need to make 15 of the same card, which I did, but WHAT A MESS!!!! I not only have glitter on the snowflakes but all over me, my stamping desk, the chair, the floor, my ink pad bin, and I can only guess where else!

They are now all done and I am recovering from the trauma of it all.....here is the finished product.

Tomorrow I will post some of the swaps that I receive. The other demonstrators in my group are fabulous!! I always look forward to seeing what they come up with. I usually come away from this meeting feeling challenged to improve. I'm terrible at getting into a rut and making basically the same type of card....so I'm working on that.

Stamps: Winter Frost
Paper: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Basic Black
Ink: Black, VersaMark
Accessories: 1-3/4" circle punch, scallop edge punch, designed label punch, Riding Hood Red 5/8" striped grosgrain ribbon, Heat and Stick powder, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Stampin' dimensionals

I'm now on Splitcoaststampers

Well, I have jumped into cyberspace with both feet!!!

Last night I uploaded a card onto Splitcoaststampers (SCS) for the first time. This morning I uploaded my second card.....very exciting!!! Both of the cards that I posted are also posted here.....but I will be putting more cards that I've made on SCS that will not be on this blog.

SCS is the BEST website for stamping! It is the website that I go to first for any inspiration and for ideas. I would recommend to anybody who needs a boost to get stamping to look at their website.

Under the "Gallery" tab, you can search for ideas by stamp set names from Stampin' Up! (SU)....just click on the "SU Galleries", they are listed alphabetically. So, for any of the stamp sets you own, all you need to do is look them up and see what others have done with that same set.....it's almost overwhelming, but totally worth it!!!

So go to SCS and check it out.....By the way, my user name is "scamfam" if you want to look me up and leave a comment. (I LOVE comments......on here and SCS!!)

Corn Maze Race

Last night I didn't have time to do any stamping because our family went to the local Corn Maze for the first time.

We teamed up and to make the contest more interesting, we said that the team who finished first would be able to choose whatever they wanted cooked for dinner next week.

So, with boys against the girls we began. The girls began well, but the boys finished first.

I might add that we, the girls, thought that you had to go on each of the 2 bridges before you were finished....well, that apparently wasn't the case....but since we are the non-competitive types, we let it slide (that time anyway).

With Madison and I going over AND under each of the bridges....we definitely got our money's worth! We went on probably every single path in the entire maze....Whew!!

A PUMPKIN CARD FROM OUR LAST CLUB MEETING

Ok, so I can't help myself......I'm so anxious to get projects posted, that I'm taking one from our last club meeting and posting it! It fits the season and since I didn't have time to stamp last night, this will do...











Stamps: Autumn Harvest
Ink: Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Green Mulberry paper (not SU....I actually got this paper at The Dollar Tree)
Accessories: Silver brads, ticket corner punch, deckle edged scissors (not SU)

In Need of Something with Ink!

Since this blog is named "Cindy's Inklings", I thought I had better post something that had ink on it!!!

I have been playing with different Christmas card ideas and came up with this card. If you click on the picture it will enlarge it and then you will be able to see that I stamped snowflakes with the VersaMark pad on the white liner.

Anyway, whenever I post a card I will also post the supplies I used to make the card.....just in case you want to give it a try or take the basic idea and change it up a bit!! All the materials will be Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

By the way, only in stamping is copying a good thing!!! In fact, most (if not all) of my best ideas have come from looking at other stampers' work and being inspired by these incredibly talented stampers.

Stamps: Winter Post (from the Holiday Mini Catalog)
Ink: Basic Black, VersaMark
Paper: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Basic Black
Accessories: 1-3/4" circle punch, scallop edge punch, designed label punch, ticket corner punch, Riding Hood Red 5/8" striped grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' dimensionals

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STAMPIN' UP!

This month Stampin' Up! is turning 20!!! In honor of this momentous occasion, they are offering some wonderful specials for the entire month of October!

Spend $20 in regular catalog merchandise and qualify to purchase any preselected birthday/celebration stamp sets at 20% OFF.

Item #	Page #	Description	Retail Price	20% Off Price
109439	62	Big Bold Birthday	$27.95	$22.36
112895	62	Cumpleaños genial y divertido (Spanish Big Bold Birthday)*	$27.95	$22.36
111532	63	Party Hearty*	$26.95	$21.56
110994	64	Bitty Birthday	$12.95	$10.36
111618	64	Crazy for Cupcakes*	$23.95	$19.16
111546	65	Simple Birthday Thanks*	$17.95	$14.36
111702	65	Time to Party*	$16.95	$13.56
108559	68	Crab & Company	$27.95	$22.36

There are a bunch MORE special promotions that I will list later on today.

Welcome to Cindy's Inklings!!

Welcome to my blog!! Well, it isn't much yet, but I'm hoping to improve it over the next few days and weeks.

A great big THANK YOU to my friend, also named Cindy, for introducing me to the cute backgrounds. They are free on a site called The Cutest Blog on the Block. Being the computer moron that I am....even I was able to figure out how to put it on my blog. These backgrounds are adorable!!! There are all different seasons, occasions, etc. Definitely worth checking out.

Well, that is all for today. Tomorrow I will post something worth looking at......until then!